How Fast is a Stiltz Home Elevator Compared to a Stairlift?

At Stiltz, a common question we get asked is ‘how fast does the lift travel?’. Now, we know we are only talking about travelling a few feet between floors, but over time, a few seconds here and there adds up, so we understand why, when choosing your home elevator, speed might be a concern.

So here are the facts. Our home elevator range travel at approximately 30 feet per minute allowing you to travel between floors in as little as 20 seconds. For that to mean anything it is probably worth comparing it with other residential elevators.

At the basic end of the home elevator spectrum is the humble stairlift. Our products have many benefits compared to stairlifts and speed is also a big advantage we offer customers. A stairlift will typically travel at 20-25 feet per minute. However, it will do perform this at an angle. A 10-feet floor to floor measurement requires a 15-feet rail. Therefore, you are traveling 50 per cent further at a slower speed.

A porch lift, or wheelchair lift is sometimes chosen as a low cost interior option. However, as well as being a less attractive home elevator option they can also be very slow. Expect 10-feet per minute as the speed on many of these lifts, meaning a typical journey will take about a minute. Screw driven lifts are also very noisy. Stiltz offer a wheelchair lift version of a home elevator which can accommodate a standard-sized wheelchair.

A traditional residential elevator will travel at around 40-feet per minute, but with building work can easily cost $40,000+. A Stiltz home elevator, at 30-feet per minute, offers great performance compared to all other products on the market, especially as many of our customers end up paying half what they would have with a regular in home elevator.

While 40 seconds gained might not seem like much when you compare our products to the slowest options out there, it is surprising at how frustrating it can feel when traveling in anything slower than 20-feet per minute. This is especially true if you are using the residential elevator or wheelchair lift several times a day. Added up over a year you could spend as much as a full day extra in a slower product compared to a Stiltz home elevator!